The Great Deceiver (Outtakes)

In January 1974 King Crimson entered Air Studios to begin work on what would become Starless And Bible Black. In one of his regular visits to the archives, DGM’s Alex Mundy has unearthed this fascinating extract of the band as they get to grips with The Great Deceiver. One of the first things they tackled in the studio, as we join this previously unreleased ten minutes of music and chatter, the atmosphere seems a little tense.

“Listen, wait a minute, wait a minute. Before we go on and on doing this we have to figure out what parts everyone is playing,” says an exasperated Bill Bruford after a couple of attempts to record the backing track for the song. “Well, can I make a point,” retorts Robert Fripp from the other side of the studio, sounding a little terse. “We haven’t been through the fucking. . .”

Sadly the rest of Fripp’s point is cut short after engineer George Chkiantz presses the pause button. That we can even hear anything at all of what Fripp and Wetton are saying is only due to Alex Mundy’s sterling work in boosting the speech inadvertently picked up by the microphones in front of the guitar amplifiers.

AUDIO SOURCE: Multi-Track Tape

DGM AUDIO QUALITY

AVERAGE CUSTOMER RATING

TRACK

TIME

The Great Deceiver (Outtakes)

10:34

TRACK	TIME
The Great Deceiver (Outtakes)	10:34

Written by Randy L Bayers

What we're here for

The Great Deceiver has always been one of my favorite Crim tracks. This is revelatory to hear them working it out. After Bruford sort of sets Fripp straight on what beat to come in on, Fripp shows and proves during the second half of this studio rehearsal. Don't skip this one!

Written by Darrell Harvey

Behind The Scenes

Hearing behind the scenes - pre edits & overdubs - is incredible! (I wrote a college paper on this song.) John & Bill sound solid and confident. Robert sounds like he's struggling, yet earns my respect for allowing this to be heard. (Maybe annoyed at Bill taking charge?) Awesome restoration by Mr. Mundy - from a pre edited multitrack? I played the album cut after listening and the fidelity here blows it away. Wow. Thank you all!

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The Great Deceiver (Outtakes)

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